Supervisors receive Floyd County weed report during short regular meeting

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

There are five weeds that are considered a problem in Floyd County, according to the county weed commissioner’s report.

The annual report is a requirement of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, and a copy also goes to the county supervisors.

The report, by Floyd County Weed Commissioner Adam Sears, who is also the county conservation director, was accepted by the supervisors at their regular meeting Tuesday.

Sears reported that buckthorn, Canada thistle, poison hemlock, garlic mustard and purple loosestrife are present and causing a problem in the county. Two dozen other weeds were reported as being present in the county but not a problem.

The report says $680 was spent in 2019 to purchase herbicides to fight weeds, and Sears listed those as a stump application for buckthorn and a basal bark application for buckthorn.

The overall county weed situation was listed as unchanged from the previous year, and under suggestions or recommendations, Sears listed “improve county weed spraying program.”

Sears reported that he sent two written notices to landowners to control weeds, and issued two verbal warnings.

Also at the short meeting Tuesday, the supervisors:

• Set two public hearings for 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12, on a petition to rezone property owned by William and Julie Joyner east of Floyd and to create a subdivision named Riverfront Drive Addition.

• Set the canvass dates for the upcoming general election for 3 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12, and 10 a.m. Monday, Nov. 18. Two canvasses are now needed because of a change in Iowa election laws that lets residents vote in their own counties even if they belong to a school district that is “controlled” by another county.

There are people who live in Floyd County who are part of the Osage School District, controlled by Mitchell County; who are part of the Nashua-Plainfield School District, controlled by Chickasaw County; who are part of the North Butler School District, controlled by Butler County; and who are part of the Central Springs School District, controlled by Worth County.

Previously, Floyd County members of those districts would have had to go to a polling site in the controlling county to vote in those school elections. Now they will vote for the school issues at their usual general election polling place, and then Floyd County will have to report those school election numbers to the controlling counties.

The first canvass is to verify the votes cast in Floyd County including for residents of those school districts that are outside of Floyd County, so that information can be sent to those districts.

The second canvass will include the votes cast in other counties for school districts in Floyd County, such as members of the Charles City School District who live in Chickasaw County, and members of the RRMR school district who live in Cerro Gordo and Mitchell counties.